Q: What did 12/ mean?

A: Twelve shillings.

Evidence: Five Shilling Six Pence Note in the Document Archive

During and after the American Revolution, hard currency for everyday use was scarce. Martha Ballard kept her diary accounts in the old New England style of pounds, shillings and pence, but she traded in goods, services, promissory notes and a multitude of foreign currencies. Her base rate for attending a birth was six shillings. She received twice that for the Sewall birth on October 10, 1794.

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